One Piece: Kaido's adopted son, starts with the Eight Gates Formation.

"What?"

"I need your knife."

Hawkeye paused for a second: "I can refuse to lend it."

"I'm not borrowing your knife. I need you—to fight alongside me. I'll clear the way, you finish the job."

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. He and Shanks had known each other for over twenty years, sparring frequently and knowing each other's fighting styles. Shanks clearing the way meant he would use Conqueror's Haki to suppress his opponent's reaction, creating a moment Hawkeye couldn't dodge.

Is it possible that Hawkeye's sword—the Black Blade Yoru's slash—is close to the conceptual level of "slash" and could cause "unforgettable" damage in that instant?

"You want to use my knife to sever the 'causal threads' he erased?" Hawkeye said in a questioning tone, as if it were a statement.

"Pretty much. Your knife can cut through everything, right?"

"Not sure," Hawkeye said honestly.

"Then let's give it a try." The redhead smiled.

The two of them moved at the same time.

Redhead in front, Hawkeye behind. Both swords were drawn simultaneously.

Yhwach felt pressure coming from two directions, and his composite eye was operating at full power—although he couldn't see Shanks' future, he could see Hawkeye's.

Even without Lynn's protection, Hawkeye's actions are still within the chain of cause and effect.

"I see—he'll attack from the right." Yhwach reacted to Hawkeye's blade strike in advance, shifting his body to the left.

But this was exactly what the redhead had planned.

The red-haired man's Conqueror's Haki erupted the instant Yhwach moved to the left, not as a suppression of the body, but as a suppression of "will"—he suppressed Yhwach's will to "continue moving".

Yhwach's body froze in mid-air for 0.3 seconds.

0.3 seconds. That's enough for top-tier experts.

Hawkeye did not attack from the right flank as Yhwach had predicted. Instead, he cut in from behind, an opening that Yhwach had deliberately created.

The blade of the Black Blade Yoru had nothing added to it—no Haki, no spiritual pressure, no energy. Only pure "slash".

The strongest sword strike in the world, honed over a lifetime.

The blade sliced ​​into Yhwach's back.

Yhwach's Composite Eye flashed wildly—he wanted to erase this attack! He wanted to remove the causal link of "Hawkeye slashing from behind" from the timeline!

The erasure has been initiated.

But it was only half successful.

The knife marks had indeed disappeared—the wounds on his skin had closed, and his clothes were back to normal. But Yhwach could feel that an invisible "crack" still existed within him.

It's not a physical crack. It's a deeper crack—a crack at the level of existence.

Hawkeye's blade severed the causal chain of Yhwach's "erasure of cause and effect."

He is not just cutting the flesh—he is cutting the "concept".

Yhwach's expression finally changed noticeably.

"Your knife isn't cutting me," he said softly, his voice carrying a genuine wariness for the first time. "You're cutting into my 'history.'"

"My blade can cut through anything," Hawkeye replied. "I'm not sure if that's true. But I'm going to try it today."

Yhwach stepped back.

This was the first time he had taken the initiative to retreat since he arrived at Seireitei.

Shanks and Hawkeye didn't give chase. That coordinated attack had drained their energy, especially Shanks's—using Conqueror's Haki to suppress someone of Yhwach's caliber was extremely taxing on his mental strength.

The three parties have temporarily distanced themselves from each other.

"Your knife is certainly interesting." Yhwach touched his back, where the internal wounds throbbed with pain. "But I'll be more careful next time. The same trick—"

"It won't work a second time on you?" the redhead finished his sentence.

"That's right."

"Then I'll take care of you for the first time." The redhead gripped Griffin's hand tightly.

Hawkeye stood beside Shanks, holding the black sword Yoru horizontally in front of him.

The two of them took a step at the same time.

Yhwach's composite eye reflected two figures rushing towards him simultaneously—one red and one black, one wielding a scimitar and the other a katana, one striking with willpower and the other with concepts.

He took a deep breath.

The power of the Spirit King surged within him, his black armor thickened, and countless pupils in his composite eye focused simultaneously.

"Omniscient and omnipotent—even if I cannot see your future, seeing your present is enough!"